Hi! I’m Ms. Frugalette, a 45 year old single mom of a teen-aged daughter living in New England. I’m also a middle manager in the accounting department of a publicly-traded company where I’ve worked for almost 20 years. I’ve dabbled in frugal living at various times in my life but I really let lifestyle inflation get the best of me as I tried to provide a life for me and my daughter.

I’ve decided to get serious about pursuing FIRE (financial independence/retire early) because I’ve spent too much of my life working at a career I’ve never really loved. I have interests and hobbies that I’d love to have more time to pursue.

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May 16 What's in name?

Sometimes, I feel like a fraud. I’m posting under the name Ms. Frugalette but I often feel like I’m not living up to the moniker. Living frugally is still a challenge for me. I’m making progress but I’m still spending on things I believe someone who calls herself Ms. Frugalette wouldn’t or shouldn’t spend money on.

I gave a lot of thought to the name of the blog when I first started thinking about creating one to document my efforts toward living frugally and pursuing financial independence. I thought of giving the blog a name that would accurately describe my current situation, like Struggling Towards Frugality. I actually thought about the blog with that title for a while in my head. I liked the way it mirrored Joan Didion’s (and Yeats’) Slouching Towards Bethlehem.

Eventually, I decided that Struggling Towards Frugality sounded too negative. Yes, I would struggle but that’s not a bad thing. I’m struggling towards something that I want. The more I lived with the title the more I thought that it didn’t reflect my intentions for the blog.

I looked around at some of the other FIRE blogs and realized I really liked the ones that were a name (like Mr. Money Mustache) or could easily be turned into a name (like Mr. and Mrs. Frugalwoods )

I googled a list of suffixes and ran through them until I found one liked - Frugal -ette. I added the Ms. to the front and it just sounded right to my ear - Ms. Frugalette. I could answer to that. More importantly, I could aspire to that.

Right now, the name fits kind of heavy on my shoulders. I’m not someone most people would rightly call Ms. Frugalette but I’m moving in that direction, one day and one decision at a time. Over time, I’ll grow into the name and deserve it.

I posted a mission statement earlier this month. It’s two paragraphs long and not the easiest thing to keep at the tip of my mind when facing a decision about whether to spend money or not. At times like those, Ms. Frugalette is the guidepost. It’s the quick thought that keeps me from spending needlessly. It’s the sign to pause and decide if I really need something or just want it.

At this time, Ms. Frugalette is more aspirational than descriptive as a name but I’m OK with that. I’ll get there.